Camping in Norfolk

Norfolk is easy camping country. The ground is flat, well drained and mostly sandy or heathland, which means pegs go in without a fight and pitches rarely turn to mud after rain. The county is also among the driest in Britain, with annual rainfall well below the national average. The catch is the wind. There is nothing between the north Norfolk coast and Scandinavia, and an easterly can make an exposed clifftop pitch genuinely unpleasant even in July. Sites set back among trees or on heathland — Kelling Heath and Clippesby Hall are the obvious examples — are markedly more comfortable in unsettled weather than the ones right on the coast.

The season runs realistically from Easter to the end of October, with a few sites open year-round. May, June and September are the sweet spot: warm enough, quiet, and cheaper than the school holidays. July and August book out on the coast months in advance and prices roughly double. Nights are cool by the sea whatever the month, so a three-season sleeping bag is the sensible minimum and a windbreak earns its space in the boot.

Wild camping is not legal in England without the landowner's permission, and that applies fully in Norfolk — the coast is a patchwork of National Trust, RSPB and private estate land, all of it actively managed and much of it sensitive for ground-nesting birds between March and August. Stick to established sites. Fires are prohibited almost everywhere for the same reason; bring a stove.

Glamping has spread quickly here, with shepherd's huts, safari tents and pods on farms across the Broads and the coast. It is the pragmatic choice for a spring or autumn trip when the wind picks up, and for anyone travelling with small children. Traditional canvas still makes more sense in high summer, when the sites with real facilities — heated shower blocks, shops, decent drainage — are worth paying a few pounds extra for. Book the north coast sites early; the Broads sites tend to have more give.